London’s contemporary art scene is adapting amid challenges posed by recent economic and political shifts, including Brexit and tax reforms affecting affluent international residents. Despite a decline in high-end sales and competition from other European markets like Paris, smaller and mid-sized galleries are finding innovative ways to sustain interest and generate sales.

During the recent VIP preview of the Frieze London fair, which opened to the public and runs through Sunday, collectors and dealers highlighted the city’s enduring creative energy. Luc Haenen, an art collector from Antwerp, said he frequents London’s commercial galleries rather than museum exhibitions, praising the willingness of some dealers to take risks on more conceptual and challenging works.

Many of these galleries operate with low overhead, enabling them to offer art at prices often below $10,000, which appeals to emerging collectors. Interval, a one-year-old gallery located in Clerkenwell and owned by David Gryn and his son Jacob, illustrates this trend by combining contemporary art with historical pieces and showing consigned works to reduce costs. Similarly, Antesala Gallery in Fitzrovia, founded by London-based Brazilian patron Flavia Nespatti, focuses on Latin American art and benefits from a fresh, spacious location that attracted around 250 visitors for its opening show.

Still, London’s art market has felt the impact of wealthy individuals and businesses relocating or reducing their housing ties after the Labour government’s 2024 tax increases on affluent international residents. Data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates that such departures account for roughly 121 billion pounds ($160 billion) in lost wealth from the British market.

Iwan Wirth, founder of the international mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth, confirmed a decline in art sales in London, noting that significant transactions are increasingly happening outside the city. Wirth also recently moved his main residence from Britain to Switzerland, signaling a shift in the art world’s center of gravity.

At Frieze London, marquee sales by major galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth continued, with purchases including large abstract paintings by Albert Oehlen and a notable 17th-century work by Jan Brueghel the Elder. Yet the liveliest activity took place in the fair’s Focus section, which spotlights emerging galleries and their efforts to revitalize the market from the ground up.

Among them, Harlesden High Street, based in a northwest London suburb, showcased an installation evoking a defunct local newspaper office. The entire exhibit sold for £40,000 to a Dutch collector on the preview day. Gallery co-founder Jonny Tanna acknowledged the modest scale of such sales but emphasized the importance of keeping costs low, sharing that the gallery pays a rent of just £1,000 per month and that he lives with his mother to manage expenses.

While the London art market faces structural challenges, dealers and collectors demonstrate resilience through innovation and a focus on emerging talent and accessible price points, suggesting a gradual reinvention rather than a collapse.